The cost-effectiveness of treating women with a cervical vaginal smear diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance

A repeat Pap smear one year later is the most cost-effective method of managing women who have Pap smears of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. This means that the cervical cells are abnormal but not cancerous. Many physicians believe such women should receive aggressive procedures such as biopsies. But this would be very expensive because over 2 million American women fall into this category each year. An analysis of eight different follow-up strategies found that the most cost-effective strategy is to repeat the Pap smear a year later with biopsies at that time if it has progressed to a precancerous condition.